The ladies of Athlone are set to make with their mark Athlone Little Theatre’s latest production of the smash hit poignant comedy Calendar Girls.
The story will be well known to audiences having been made into a hugely successful film starring the likes of Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. It tells the true story of a group of WI ladies who rally round after the death of the husband of one of their group from cancer and decide to do something to raise funds for a settee in his memory.
But what do they do? Sell cakes and buns? Do they hold a jumble sale? Do they hold a knitting marathon? No - they get their clothes off. The ladies decide to produce a calendar of pictures taken of each of them in the nude. Tastefully done of course.
This true story became a worldwide sensation and culminated in the wonderful movie and fantastic stage play which the ladies of Athlone Little Theatre are embarking on.
The wonderfully talented and most certainly brave ladies who are taking on this task are: Anne Hoey, Sally Knight, Anne Blackie, Stephanie Hudson, Martina Breen, Jenny Cooper, Joan Larkin, Regina Bushell, Sinead Connolly, and Leah Grace. The ladies are ably assisted by such notable actors as Jarlath Duffy, Martin Kelleher, Declan Finn, and Dermot McManus but let’s face it, who will be looking at them? Seriously folks this is a wonderful story of triumph in the face of adversity and highlights the power of community in times of need and does so in a terribly funny and comical way. All the nudity is very tastefully done with the strategic placing of various items such as cupcakes, music sheets, and ornaments which is an art in itself.
The play is directed by Oliver Hegarty who is proving himself to be a truly insightful director of late and he brings a keen understanding to this production. This play is part of the Little Theatre’s ongoing fundraising campaign to fund the extension and refurbishment works to the theatre. As part of this production the theatre has also taken the opportunity to help out the cause at the root of this story and are producing a calendar all of their own which will be sold and the proceeds of which are being donated to the Irish Cancer Society.
The pictures for this are very generously being done by local professional photographer Andrea Duncan so watch out for that!
The play runs in the Dean Crowe theatre from Monday May 20 to Thursday May 23 and booking is at (090 ) 6492129 or from the Dean Crow website. Don’t miss it!
